Details

The monument includes a round cairn situated on level ground overlooking Foss
Gill, towards the northern edge of the Tabular Hills.
The cairn has a mound of stones which stands up to 1.1m high. It is round in
shape and has a diameter of 10m. Originally it had a diameter of up to 15m but
over the years this has been reduced by forestry ploughing at the edges. In
the centre of the mound there is a hollow caused by part excavation in the
past. Adjoining the mound on the south west side there is a smaller mound
which measures up to 3m across. This is material from the cairn which has been
disturbed by forestry ploughing on the south side of the cairn. The cairn lies
within a dense concentration of prehistoric burial monuments in an area which
also includes the remains of prehistoric settlement and land division.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Round cairns are prehistoric funerary monuments dating to the Bronze Age
(c.2000-700 BC). They were constructed as stone mounds covering single or
multiple burials. These burials may be placed within the mound in stone-lined
compartments called cists. In some cases the cairn was surrounded by a ditch.
Often occupying prominent locations, cairns are a major visual element in the
modern landscape. They are a relatively common feature of the uplands and are
the stone equivalent of the earthen round barrows of the lowlands. Their
considerable variation in form and longevity as a monument type provide
important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisation
amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of
their period and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered
worthy of protection.

The Tabular Hills in the Wykeham Forest area contain a dense concentration of
prehistoric monuments, dating from the Neolithic to the Iron Age, which
includes field systems, enclosures and land boundaries as well as both round
and square barrows. The spatial and chronological relationships between the
round and square barrows in this area, and between both types of barrow and
other prehistoric monuments, are of considerable importance for understanding
the development of later prehistoric society in eastern Yorkshire.
Despite limited disturbance, the cairn 420m south east of Loft Howe survives
well. Significant information about the original form of the cairn and the
burials placed within it will be preserved. Evidence for earlier land use and
the contemporary environment will also survive beneath the mound.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Lee, G E, Wykeham Archaeological Survey, (1991)
Other
Title: Ordnance Survey 25" 2nd Edition sheet 77/13
Source Date: 1928
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:

Source: Historic England